My Hero
by MakoRain
Summary: A glance at a hard time in Tifa's life and how Cloud can still make her smile. FFVII game universe, Tifa is 8 and Cloud is 9.


A/N: I know it's been a while since I've posted after my last multi-chapter but I've been working on a story to submit for Anime Detour 2013 :) Now that I have completed and submitted said story, I feel like posting what were my back up story ideas. Also, I know now that Tifa's mother died when she was 8 years old. I wrote this story before I found this out so it has a little bit of a teenager/older feel to it but I like it the way it is so I left it alone. Please R&R, I love to hear what my readers think :)

Standard disclaimers apply-I do not own anything FFVII

Musical inspiration: My Hero by Paramore (cover of Foo Fighters song)

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**"My Hero"**

by MakoRain

The noonday sun was beating down mercilessly from above and sweat was soaking his forehead before he finally made it to the General Store. Looking around, he didn't see her. Walking up and down the aisles, he still didn't see her. Asking the man behind the counter if he had seen the little brunette with the red ribbon still turned up nothing. It wasn't until the young boy was ready to give up and start looking somewhere else that he finally found her.

The young girl's long dark hair almost wrapped around her like a security blanket, rustling along with the bow slightly in the rare breeze found on a hot day. Her tank top and shorts were perfect for the weather and he looked at her a little longer than usual. Ah who was he kidding, he looked at her longer than he should every chance he could get without her seeing him see her.

He was still on the front steps of the store, shading his eyes when he called out to her.

"Tifa."

He expected her usual toothy grinned greeting but instead found a small smile and watery eyes looking up at him. She tried to hide her eyes under her bangs by tilting her head down quickly but he had still seen the tears.

"Tifa?"

Still not looking at him, she quickly wiped at her eyes with a sniffle. He hated to see her cry. He knew she knew that too, that's why she didn't want to look at him. He felt guilty and a little sick about that.

"Are you okay, Teef?"

Instead of opening her mouth to say it, she shook her head. She was giving herself a moment to catch her breath but still didn't want him to know she was barely breathing. It hurt him more than he thought it could.

Taking her hand, he waited it out until she was ready to talk. "Cloud."

"I'm here, Teef."

"It's my mom."

Cloud's thumb slid over the back of her hand, moving back and forth gently until she flinched and eased it out of his grip a little. That's when he noticed the small hole of a needle point.

"She's sick. I tried to help."

"Like you always do."

That got him a watery smile that he gladly took, his thumb brushing away a tear that escaped while her ruby eyes swam in his. He kissed the back of her hand over the small mark and her lips wobbled. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry, her tears coating his neck but he didn't care. He was holding the only girl in the world that mattered to him as her whole world changed and he wanted to be there for her. Tifa needed him and he would be strong for her.

"Thank you, Cloud."

"For what?"

"For being here. For being my hero."

"It'll be okay, Teef. You'll see."

Tifa's tears had slowed to snuffles and she was finally able to look up at him again. "You think so?"

Cloud nodded his head then glanced over his shoulder before standing quickly. She looked on after him as he produced a coin and placed it into the trinket machine in front of the General Store. A few twists later and he was holding out a plastic bubble in his hand for her to open.

Inside was a cheap plastic ring with a glued on gem but it didn't matter. It could have been an expensive ruby with how big Tifa's smile was as she slipped it on.

"I know so." He nodded so confidently that she couldn't help feeling better and that was the whole point.

Months later Cloud and Tifa met up outside the General Store. Same time, same place, same curb. Only this time, he didn't have to search for her. And she didn't have to hide her tears. As soon as he saw her, he knew he had predicted wrong. She could barely stand, almost collapsing in his arms.

The tears were less this time. Cloud knew she had cried them all out with her father in the hospital, over countless hours spent by her mom's bedside. She had ups and downs but in the end she couldn't hold on any longer and they finally let her go. Tifa was so tired, he could see it in the dark circles under her eyes and the way she curled into him, so small, so fragile.

"I'm so sorry." Cloud whispered in her hair, holding her tight like he did before.

"You said it would be okay." He traced the cheap plastic ring he had given her when he had told her such things and felt guilty all over again.

"I know."

"And it is okay, Cloud. I don't blame you. She was sick with something that wouldn't let her go. We tried our best."

Tifa sighed, resting her head on his shoulder and he let a breath out that he didn't know he had been holding until just then.

"Tifa, I'm always here for you."

She chuckled a little and sat up at how serious he sounded. "You promise?"

Cloud smiled, a small but genuine smile from him that distracted her from the plastic bubble he pulled out of his pocket. This time instead of a plastic ring with a fake gem he slid a solid metal wolf onto her finger.

"I promise." Instead of the kiss on the cheek he was accustomed to receiving from her, he was surprised with a light press of her lips to his, their first kiss and his first real one, too.

"You'll always be my hero, Cloud Strife. No matter what."

He was her hero, and that was all that would ever matter.

*meant to be*

The End.

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A/N: Short, sweet, cute and cheesy to me, but how about what you think? Let me know in a review please :)


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